To boost sales of products or services, it’s crucial first to increase consumers’ awareness of them. A common approach used in this context is the concept of touchpoints.

A touch point refers to the contact between a consumer and a business. In simpler terms, it’s an opportunity for consumers to become aware of a product’s existence and features. This article explains what touch points are and discusses the various types and how to implement them clearly.

Understanding Touch Points

A touch point is the interface where a consumer interacts with a product that may lead to a purchase. It includes any instance where advertisements or word-of-mouth might change a consumer’s perception of a product. Here are specific examples of touch points.

• Seeing a product in a supermarket.
• Learn about a product’s details through an in-store announcement at a convenience store.
• Discovering product features during a commercial break while watching a television program.
• Getting to know product features from advertisements inside a train while commuting.
• Find out about a product’s reputation through online reviews while surfing the internet.

These touch points are essential as they mold consumer perceptions and can significantly influence their purchasing decisions.

Types and List of Touch Points

Touch points refer to the mediums through which consumers interact with products, and these can vary widely. Generally, touch points can be categorized based on the consumer’s actions over time, and further differentiated into online and analog types. Organizing touch points into a table according to these categories can provide a clear overview as follows.

Timeline: Analog | Online

• Pre-Purchase: TV commercials, Radio commercials, Magazine ads, Newspaper ads, Transit and outdoor advertising, Flyers, Word-of-mouth | Websites, Review sites, Social media, Webinars, Online ads
• At Purchase: Physical stores, In-store posters and POP displays, In-store announcements, Sales staff assistance, Samples | Online ad links, Apps
• Post-Purchase: Telephone, Direct mail, Contact centers, Email newsletters, Closed communities | App notifications

*SNS stands for Social Networking Service.

By categorizing touch points along a timeline, trends become apparent. For example, pre-purchase touch points often involve advertisements and online information notices. Post-purchase, where companies typically have customer information, there is a noticeable effort to engage customers through various means.

Consumer and Product Trends from the Perspective of Touch Points

From the perspective of touchpoints, the consumer journey can be observed as follows.

• Pre-Purchase: Consumers become aware of products through advertisements and online information.
• At Purchase: Consumers access physical stores or e-commerce sites to make purchases.
• Post-Purchase: Consumers become aware of new products through direct mail and other communications sent by the company.

This method of considering consumer behaviors in a narrative form can be useful for research when designing touch points.

Importance of Touch Points

Touch points are crucial as they can trigger consumer purchases, thereby playing a vital role in increasing sales. Properly established touch points can have the following effects.

• Deeper understanding of customer needs
• Increased awareness of products and services
• Growth in repeat customers

Deepening Understanding of Customer Needs

When strengthening touch points with consumers, the first step is to advance research and analysis. This process involves analyzing the interactions with consumers, which can lead to the identification of customer needs. Understanding these needs allows for the application of this knowledge in targeted promotions and product improvements.

Increasing Awareness of Products and Services

As consumers have more opportunities to interact with products and services, awareness of these offerings increases. Initially, it is only after products or services become known that consumers decide whether to make a purchase. If there is a challenge with low social awareness of a product or service, consider implementing strategies to strengthen touch points.

Increasing Repeat Customers

As the awareness of products and services grows, so do the opportunities to convert consumers into customers. Understanding customer needs and improving products can enhance the customer experience and improve their perception of the products. This positive impact can encourage satisfied customers to become repeat customers. An increase in repeat customers can maximize the Lifetime Value (LTV), thus boosting company profits. LTV is a marketing metric that represents the profit a company can expect from a single customer over the course of their relationship.

Designing and Implementing Touch Points

To advance the strengthening of touch points, the first step is to determine the strategy content through research and analysis. Once the activities are complete, it’s important to validate the effects and make improvements. These steps are typical in general marketing activities.

-Clarify the Objective

-Define the Persona and Conduct Research

-Strengthen Touchpoints

-Verify the Effectiveness

Clarify the Objective 

First, think about the purpose of implementing the strategy and then set specific goals. Having concrete goals in place helps clarify the criteria for deciding which strategies to continue and which to discontinue when evaluating their effectiveness.

Identify Personas and Conduct Research

At this stage, you determine personas and advance your research and analysis. A persona represents the typical user characteristics of your product or service, including aspects such as;

• Age
• Gender
• Profession
• Hobbies, etc.

Research primarily involves a deep dive into the current touch points and customer interactions. You will explore how well the existing touch points align with customers and what emotions customers experience when they engage with these touch points, revealing any current challenges.

Even without formal research and analysis, experiencing the products or services of competitors can be highly effective. Experiencing the same type of products or services as your own can help track consumer emotions and aid in setting up touch points.

Create a Customer Journey Map 

One method to consider the correlation between touch points and customers is to create a customer journey map. This map tracks consumer behavior and visualizes it. Specifically, it narrates the emotional journey from when a consumer first becomes aware of a product to the decision to purchase, identifying appropriate touch points along the way.

Specifically, you document the consumer’s interaction with the product over time as follows.

• Pre-Purchase: Recognizing the product through advertisements and web information.
• At Purchase: Accessing the physical store or e-commerce site to make a purchase.
• Post-Purchase: Becoming aware of new products through direct mail sent by the company selling the product.

Breaking down consumer actions, each step can be characterized by certain emotions and activities.

• Pre-Purchase: Awareness, interest, information gathering, comparison.
• At Purchase: Store access, in-store information gathering, sampling, purchasing decision.
• Post-Purchase: Product usage, repeat purchases, awareness of new products.

Creating a customer journey map not only highlights current challenges with touch points but also helps consider touch points that are well-suited to the personas.

Strengthening Touch Points

Once you have identified which touch points to strengthen through research and the creation of a customer journey map, you can implement strategies. There are primarily two ways to increase touch points: expanding existing channels or establishing new ones. A channel refers to the pathway through which consumers reach a product. However, care must be taken not to indiscriminately add channels or touch points, as this can overly commercialize the experience and potentially spread negative word-of-mouth.

Validating the Effectiveness

After implementing the strategies, monitor the responses. Evaluate how well they met the initial goals set. Further, distinguish between effective and ineffective strategies. Channels and touch points that received positive feedback or showed effectiveness should be further emphasized and strengthened.

Key Points for Successful Touch Point Design

To successfully design touch points, consider the following.

• Understand the nature of each channel
• Prepare multiple channels
• Adopt an omnichannel strategy
• Establish a contact center
• Implement Cross-Channel Campaign Management (CCCM)
• Learn how to create a customer journey map

Understanding the Nature of Channels

Each type of channel used as a touch point has its own characteristics. For example, advertising and promotions that pitch a product can help increase consumer awareness, but if overdone, they may become intrusive and create a negative impression. Such tactics can lead to negative word-of-mouth, so it is important to be cautious.

In addition, when distributing products through physical stores, it might be necessary to focus more heavily on areas with high foot traffic that match your persona’s characteristics. Thus, strengthening channels that align with your persona is a critical point.

Preparing Multiple Channels

Instead of relying on a single pathway, setting up multiple channels can increase the opportunities for customers to interact with your product. If you identify any channels that have not been established yet but match your persona, consider setting up these new channels.

Adopting an Omnichannel Strategy

Omnichannel means integrating touch points. In practice, it involves coordinating advertising, promotions, and sales channels to create an environment that makes it easier for consumers to access products and services. This strategy is suitable for touch point design because it applies existing channels and can enhance effectiveness.

Setting Up a Contact Center

A contact center refers to the point of contact where customers can reach out to a company. Common examples include support centers and customer service centers. Typically, a contact center utilizes tools such as;

• Telephone
• Email
• Chat
• Social Media
• In-store sales staff

By using a contact center, consumers can resolve their queries and concerns about products, thereby increasing customer satisfaction. It also provides a vital channel for hearing directly from consumers. If a contact center is not yet established, it should be prioritized for setup.

Implementing Cross-Channel Campaign Management (CCCM)

Cross-Channel Campaign Management (CCCM) is a tool for managing customer interactions. Originally, CCCM is a type of marketing automation tool, specifically designed for BtoC (Business-to-Consumer) interactions.

With CCCM, businesses can centrally manage the entire flow from when a consumer first engages with a touch point to their arrival in-store. Utilizing such tools simplifies tasks like data collection and analysis.

Learning How to Create a Customer Journey Map

Setting up appropriate touch points requires preliminary research and the creation of a customer journey map. This map is essentially a story that tracks a consumer’s journey towards purchasing a product, similar to writing a novel or creating a drama.

When writing a novel, techniques like mind mapping or plotting are often used. Mind mapping involves starting with a keyword and branching out associated ideas in a tree-like diagram to organize thoughts. Plotting helps outline the backbone of a story. Learning these narrative techniques can help create a customer journey map that more closely aligns with consumer psychology.

Practical Examples of Touch Point Design

Today, I’ll introduce practical examples of touch point applications from Uniqlo and Panasonic. The former has successfully designed touch points, while the latter has incorporated its strength in having numerous touch points into its corporate philosophy to develop new business strategies.

Uniqlo’s ‘Uniqlo App’

Quote: UNIQLO Official | Reasons for the App

Uniqlo has successfully driven traffic from online touch points to its physical stores. Through its online store and the Uniqlo App, the company delivers the latest information to consumers. The Uniqlo App, in particular, employs an Online to Offline (O2O) marketing strategy, which has proven so convenient that the app’s downloads surpassed 30 million in 2020.

Typically, physical stores and e-commerce in the apparel industry are seen as competitors. However, Uniqlo uses the Uniqlo App as a channel to drive traffic to its physical stores. The app features push notifications that deliver information directly to a smartphone’s home screen. Using this feature, Uniqlo distributes discount coupons that can be used in stores and provides information about in-store sales. The users of the Uniqlo App are primarily prospective customers of the Uniqlo brand, and these strategies have been well-received because they align with customer needs.

Moreover, while online stores cannot offer physical examination of products, Uniqlo encourages visits to physical stores to compensate for this limitation. For instance, a prospective customer might find a T-shirt design they like online but will visit a nearby Uniqlo store to feel the material and fit before making a purchase decision.

Panasonic’s ‘Life Update Business’

Quote: New Lifestyle Proposals | Panasonic

Next, I’ll introduce an example of Panasonic leveraging its numerous touch points to establish a new business plan.

In 2018, on its 100th anniversary, Panasonic introduced the catchphrase “Life Update Business” as part of its vision for the “next 100 years,” outlining how the company aims to engage with society.

Traditionally, as a home appliance manufacturer, the focus has been on continuously “upgrading” products to develop higher-performing versions to compete in the market. However, the phrase “update” in the catchphrase differs from “upgrade.” According to Panasonic, the “life” in “Life Update” refers to enhancing every aspect of consumers’ lives, not just improving product specifications.

Panasonic, known not only for its electronics but also for its housing and various facilities, has evolved to propose solutions for overall housing issues. This approach utilizes the company’s strength in having numerous touch points to its advantage.

Frequently Asked Questions About Touch Points

Here, we introduce some common questions about touch points in a Q&A format.

Q: Should I review my touch points? 

A: Touch points are the opportunities for consumers to become aware of your products. First, accurately identify the touch points for your products. If issues become apparent or if your aim is to improve product awareness, then consider revisiting your touch points.

Q: How can ‘touch point’ be rephrased? 

A: The term ‘touch point’ is particularly used in marketing terminology. Originally, it is a shorthand for the English term ‘Customer Touch Point.’ It can also be translated into Japanese as ‘customer contact point.’ Another synonym could be ‘contact point.’

Q: What is the difference between a touch point and a channel? 

A: A channel refers to a method through which consumers can access products to make a purchase. For example, if products are distributed in physical stores and then you also start selling them on an e-commerce site, you are said to have ‘strengthened your channel.’

On the other hand, a touch point refers to the point of contact between consumers and products. Therefore, a channel is considered a part of the touch points.

Summary 

A touch point is the initial contact point that triggers a consumer’s decision to purchase a product. Generally, the more a product or service is recognized by consumers, the more likely it is to be purchased. Therefore, having multiple touch points typically increases the opportunities for sales. However, it’s not just about having numerous touch points, but about placing channels that are appropriate for your persona. Optimizing touch points can also lead to better brand loyalty and repeat customers. If you identify issues with your products or services, start by considering a review of your initial touch points.

Author Profile

Mr. Takeshi Amano, CEO of Admano Co., Ltd.

Mr. Takeshi Amano is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at Nihon University. With 12 years of experience working in the advertising agency industry, he discovered SEO and began his research during the early days of SEO. He self-taught and conducted experiments and verifications on over 100 websites. Using this expertise, he founded Admano Co., Ltd., which is currently in its 11th year of operation. Mr. Amano handles sales, SEO consulting, web analytics (holding the Google Analytics Individual Qualification certification ), coding, and website development. The company has successfully managed SEO strategies for over 2000 websites to date.

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